


In Your Eyes

by ashesandhoney



Series: It Came From Tumblr (Ficlet Collections) [8]
Category: Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Canon Era, Ficlet Collection, Fluff and Angst, M/M, i'll warn you in the chapter heading note so you can skip it, only one ficlet has any character death in it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2018-07-24 13:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 5,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7510784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashesandhoney/pseuds/ashesandhoney
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Heronstairs ficlets from my archive of prompts on tumblr. Almost all of these can all be imagined to fit somewhere in the continuity of the actual novels or are canon era AUs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“One more chapter?” Will asked. 

“I can’t handle one more chapter,” Jem said. 

“Come on, this is the best part,” Will wheedled. 

Jem rolled his eyes and flopped back down beside Will. He had gotten up to leave because he’d thought Will’s poetry hour was finally finished but no, apparently not. Will was stretched out on his stomach with the book propped up against the pillows and Jem lay back on his back. 

He positioned himself, entirely accidentally, with his shoulder pressed against Will’s arm. Will leaned into him. They did this and they didn’t speak of it. Jem never asked for the touches but Will never refused him. Will probably wouldn’t refuse him if he rolled into him and pressed their bodies together. 

With that thought, Jem looked over at Will who was focused on his reading. Jem hadn’t a clue what the story was about, he tuned out everything but the rhythm and the cadence of Will’s voice. He told himself it was an experiment and he slid in a little closer so his knee touched Will’s as well. Nothing. Not so much as a twitch of recognition that it had happened. 

Jem yawned and stretched, shifting again so that he came to rest against Will, knee and thigh and hip and Jem’s head almost resting on his forearm. Will looked down at him and he thought that this was finally it, this was the point where Will would mention it, ask him to stop. 

“Am I boring you?” he asked all smug superiority but not mention of Jem’s increasingly ridiculous behaviour. 

“No,” Jem said pressing into the points of contact and that got a little flicker of something on Will’s face but it vanished as quickly as it had come. He swallowed hard and went back to reading. Jem sighed as quietly as he could and went back to listening without hearing a word but neither of them pulled away.


	2. One More Chapter (sad)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the one that needs the "character death" tag.

Jem had slipped past consciousness and he was probably never coming back. Will sat beside the bed with one thin, papery hand in held tight and a book open on the bed covers. He read aloud not because he thought Jem wanted to hear the story or even because he wanted to hear the story. He read because otherwise he would cry and if James Carstairs could still hear him from the depths of the fever dream he was dying in, he didn’t want him to be listening to tears. 

“One more chapter?” he asked and it was almost a plea. Please let me get through one more. Just a few more minutes before you leave me alone in this world forever. Will bit back the thought and paused to push Jem’s hair away from his face. His skin was hot and he shuddered under the touch like it was icy. 

“One more then,” he said and he picked Jem’s hand back up and started in on the next one. He kept his voice even and he paid attention to every breath Jem took. When the room fell silent, Will closed the book and for the first time since he had been twelve years old, he started to cry. 


	3. Becoming Parabatai

He'd never been to a funeral before.

And it nearly sent him into a panic. He’d come to London to protect his family. He had taken up training because that was what you did when you became a Shadowhunter. He had even found himself liking the idea of William Herondale protector of the mundanes.

But the man had been torn apart. Will hadn’t seen it but he had seen the aftermath. There had been blood and worse spread across the dimly lit room. He’d been caught alone as the Shadowhunters swept the house. Caught alone by at least two but maybe as many as four demons who had pulled him to pieces. Literal pieces. The other Shadowhunters had all treated it like an unfortunate but expected event, like breaking a wheel on a wagon. Will’s mother’s voice declaring the Nephilim heartless whispered through his head along with the image of red streaked across dingy tile.

Will suppressed a shudder. His expression was empty because he practiced for hours until he could keep it that way. He was sure no one could tell he was falling to pieces. Then Jem bumped his shoulder and that tiny shred of kindness nearly broke through Will’s resolve.

He was scared. He hadn’t been scared before. It was all a bit of a grand adventure wherein he was the greatest danger. Cursed Will would get people killed but that wasn’t true. Or it wasn’t the whole truth. There were lots of things to get people killed. Jem had been in that building when the man had died. They’d been together, staying close to Henry and the tutor as they’d been repeatedly order to. They had survived because they hadn’t been alone.

He was caught by the thought and stopped in midstep to grab Jem and haul him to the side. In mourning white, Jem looked pale and the silver in his black hair stood out. There was more of it every day.

“We should be parabatai,” Will said.

“That’s ridiculous,” Jem said and went to catch up to the others and Will had to hurry to catch up.

“It’s not,” Will said, “You aren’t going to find anyone prettier than me.”

Jem looked at him to tell him that leaving a funeral with the scent of the pyre still on the air was not the right time for jokes but Will ignored it. What if it had been Jem who had been left alone to finish checking that room? His imagination tried to give him an image to go with that and he choked it down as he held Jem’s gaze.

“No,” Jem said.

“Yes,” Will said, then he let a note of pleading in as he amended, “Consider it.” He did not say out loud that it would mean never being alone in a battle.

“I am dying, you don’t want to be tied to me,” Jem hissed, angrier than he usually sounded. That made Will falter again and Jem hurried away from him to fall into step near Charlotte.

“We’re all dying,” Will said softly turning to look back at the funeral pyre for only a moment before turning to follow the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm adding my tag notes here because I just have so many feelings about Will and his adjustment to being a Shadowhunter. 
> 
> #will adjusting to being a Shadowhunter must have been hard #he was a sweet and coddled child #and suddenly found himself in the middle of a war #not a play at heroics war but true evil and the threat of death #that couldn't have been easy #from baby country gentleman to demon hunter #he's scared for himself #he's scared for jem #he's must have had moments where he was just so scared #because he'd given up the option to leave #poor will


	4. Training Room Massage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez self, why do you write so much angst?

Jem was calm. Will never doubted that. Jem was calm and he always would be. Then he had missed the grip switch during a sword drill and pulled his shoulder badly enough to make him yell. He had thrown the sword against the wall in a fit of frustration before dropping to the floor and trying to roll out the muscle.

“What did that poor wall ever do to you?” Will asked him but Jem just looked up at him as though the joke didn’t make sense to him.

“Ah, yes,” he said, “It told me the same thing and about my mother! The nerve.”

This time he got a bit of a glare as Jem rolled his shoulder. Will abandoned his attempts at humour and sat down beside him. Jem started to pull away but Will grabbed his arm and kept him still. Jem sighed heavily but accepted Will’s hands as they pushed on his arm and back. Will knew he had found the pulled muscle when Jem winced.

“I’m getting weaker,” Jem muttered. He closed he eyes and leaned into Will’s touch. Will looked up at him but he still had his eyes shut. Will abandoned the vague things he knew about muscle massage and just rubbed circles into Jem’s back and said nothing.

Jem’s little flash of fury and fear faded away until his breathing was calm. Will waited for him to get up but he didn’t. He kept leaning into Will’s hand just enough to be impossible to ignore and they sat together on the training room floor for a long time.


	5. Sick Bed

Jem was still as a corpse and Will would have hit anyone who said it. The words had come up out of his own mind and he futilely tried to stomp them down. Jem’s forehead shone with sweat and his silver hair was damp with it. Will leaned over him and tried to find words, good words, words worth saying to someone who was as important as James Carstairs.

Jem started to cough. The sound exploded across the silence of the sick room and Will flinched and reached out for him, his hand hovering over the bed. Jem twisted coughing harder and didn’t answer when Will called his name out. The desperation was there in his voice but Jem wasn’t awake. When the coughing quieted, Jem had rolled onto his side, curled up smaller than someone his height had any right to be. Will pulled all the blankets back into place and pushed the damp hair away from his feverish forehead.

Jem looked up at him and his pupils were so wide he looked like his eyes were black with just a hint of a silver ring like an eclipse. Will dropped down beside the bed to meet his eye. Jem reached out like he was going to touch Will’s hair but his hand faltered and fell to the blankets. Will gathered it up in both of his and held it carefully like he was holding a wounded bird or a broken heart. Something fragile and precious requiring gentleness and care.

“Thank you,” Jem said and his words weren’t quite steady.

“For what?” Will asked.

“For being my friend when I don’t deserve one, you could be anywhere,” Jem muttered.

“You always deserve one. There is no where else I want to be. You deserve so much better than me,” Will said.

“There is no one better than you,” Jem said but his voice trailed off at the end and his eyes fell shut as though even the words had exhausted him. Will didn’t move for a long time, he held his limp bony fingers in his hand and watched him sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jem's self deprecation here is more about feeling like he doesn't deserve all of Will's attention, not that he thinks himself unworthy of love. Jem is having a moment of hating the idea of Will being stuck with him as he dies.


	6. Domestic Headcanons (happy!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never post headcanon lists to AO3 (especially ones so full of commentary) but I liked this little world and god knows this massive angst fest of a ficlet collection needs a happy chapter.

**Victorian Era Domestic Heronstairs Headcanons**

  * ☮ Will and Jem (magically cured by magic), get a suite of rooms big enough to share as bachelors (actually 90% sure that this is where Infernal War 2 will start except without the magical cure). 
  * ☮ Will fills walls with books to the point that Jem worries he’s going to bankrupt himself on novels. 
  * ☮ Jem is neat. Will is not. Jem tends toward passive aggression when he’s cranky. Will tends toward dramatic outbursts when he’s cranky. As long as they’re not both cranky at the same time, life is very good.
  * ♤ They hire themselves a housekeeper because neither of them can toast bread because they are warriors and gentlemen. She’s kind of Mrs. Hudson like and mothers the hell out of two young men who haven’t had a mother figure since they were kids. (They adore her and would KILL you if you hurt her). 
  * ☾ They give up on sleeping in separate beds before they cross any romantic lines. The yin fen made it almost impossible for Jem to dream and once he’s off it, years of nightmares catch up to him. It’s deeply disturbing to him since he didn’t even realize how much he’d gotten used to not dreaming. Having Will nearby evens out the nightmares and keeps him from panicking when he wakes. 
  * ⋆ They’re committed and exclusive long before either of them realize the potential for a physical relationship. They’re a bit like a married couple by the time they’ve been living together for a year but it simply doesn’t occur to either of them to push past that line. Jem starts it because Jem is the more physical in his expressions of affection and always has been. 
  * ⋆ The physical relationship starts so so very slow. Hugs that last just a fraction too long and then longer the next time. Will using Jem as a footrest. Jem falling asleep with his head in Will’s lap. The abandonment of the second bedroom. Little things like fixing Will fixing Jem’s collar and letting his hand rest against his neck. A hand on his bare chest while drawing a rune. 
  * ⋆ When the physical relationship does cross the line, it happens fast. They go from tentative to all in with the blink of an eye. They’re both affectionate people and their cleaning lady only comes in the mid afternoons to prep meals and sweep. Unless there is a hunt or other Clave business, they have no reason not to spend all their time wrapped up in each other. 
  * ⋆ Will thinks he’s adventurous but really it is Jem who pushes him into new territory. Neither of them say no very often when offered sex so they often get thoroughly distracted from everything else by it. Like leaving a dinner half eaten to go do other things with their mouths because Will made an off colour joke and Jem raised his eyebrow in just that way. 
  * ☠I think neither of them really gets drunk often. Will gets emotional and impulsive (see Will post drug den also his tattoo) when he’s not sober and Jem has a lot of discomfort with mood altering substances. He needs to be in a really secure environment to even consider it

  * ☠I think they’d rarely drink when they weren’t together because Will makes Jem feel more secure and Will knows that Jem will keep him from doing something really dumb like getting a facial tattoo.




 

I found more!

 

  1. They are deeply supportive of one another’s interests. 
  2. When Will starts writing, Jem will pick up reference books he finds that relate to his topics without being asked. He will listen to Will read drafts or complain about ideas. He actually edits very well because he is a methodical thinker and Will is deeply appreciative of it. 
  3. Will listens to compositions and even if he knows next to nothing about violin music he will always give feedback. He also allows himself to be taken to symphonies and he sits and listens and then nods along as Jem reviews it later. 
  4. Jem learns Welsh. They often speak a jumbled mishmash of language when they don’t want to be understood by other people. 
  5. Will is the high strung one and it always deeply freaks him out when Jem is upset. He never quite knows how to be supportive when Jem is emotional but he tries even if it ends up being awkward shoulder patting and making tea.
  6. Will is messy and Jem is not. Jem is occasionally a little passive aggressive about it. If Will won’t pick up the laundry, he will keep throwing things on Will’s pile of dirty clothing until it is a tower and he HAS to deal with it. 
  7. Will takes things for granted but is fantastic at the big gesture romantic moments - anniversaries are always a big deal and he always has a plan. 
  8. Jem isn’t that kind of plotter - he doesn’t plan out the big parties or the surprise moments - but he is a day to day kind of romantic. Jem leaves a favourite dessert and a note on the table for no reason. He buys a gift just because “it looks like something you’d like.” You never doubt that Jem loves you because he never lets you forget. 
  9. And given Will’s issues with love this is an essential part of their relationship. Will needs more reassurance than most people. He has a jealous streak. 
  10. Jem isn’t jealous at all. Jem is 100% sure that Will will always come home so why does it matter if he flirts? or if someone is hitting on him?
  11. Jem likes to cuddle - Will sometimes finds his tendency to sit right up against him annoying but Jem also does things like lies his head down in Will’s lap and just talks about his day and it is so adorable it balances out the annoying moments. 
  12. They’re clingy. Both of them. Long into their relationship, they still sleep wrapped around each other and hate sleeping alone




	7. Banter

Will was glowering at the door. Everyone else was gone and it was just the two of them left in the room. Will slouched down in his chair and shot a look at Jem.

“Why are you so annoyed about this?” Jem asked.

“We’re being left home like children,” Will said.

“So you’re going to pout like one?” Jem asked.

Will made a disgusted noise and pushed himself up out of his chair. Jem followed him to the door and when he turned around to complain again, Jem leaned in.

He kissed the end of Will’s nose.

Will frowned and pulled back and Jem laughed at him.

“You’re so cute when you’re pouting,” he said stepping past Will into the hallway.

“Don’t mock me, Carstairs!” Will called after him.

“Then stop making it so easy!” Jem called back over his shoulder.


	8. Kissing Under the Influence

That was a problem because Jem was staring at him like he was bleeding to death. Will checked the stuff he’d landed in, a mishmash of powders. This is what he got for getting into fights in drug dens. He was not bleeding to death but the very angry ifrit with the knife seemed intent on fixing that problem. Will swung around, bottle of some drug in hand and flung it at the Ifrit’s face as he kicked both feet up into the man’s chest. He back pedaled and Jem cracked him over the back of the head with the hilt of a sword.

“What is all over your face?” Jem asked. The rest of the battle around them had nearly come to a close. The Nephilim didn’t often raid drug dens but this one had traded in people as well as powders.

“I don’t rightly know,” Will said cheerfully and Jem looked like he wanted to hit him. Will’s more conscious mind suggested that he shouldn’t touch him but his fingers weren’t sure why. Jem jerked back out of range.

“You need to wash it off before it kills you,” Jem said.

“Don’t think it’ll kill me,” Will said but he happily let Jem drag him outside and stick his head under the pump in the square. The cold water didn’t clear his head but it did leave him shivering and sputtering.

“You inhaled it, didn’t you?” Jem said.

“Likely as I am a bit knackered,” Will said and he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Jem’s mouth. Jem had been holding his shoulder and shining a witchlight at his face and he dropped the stone in surprise as Will caught his face and kissed him again. Jem didn’t kiss back but neither did he punch Will. He finally stepped back and used his hand on Will’s shoulder to hold him in place.

Will tried to lean in again immediately but Jem held him back. Confusion reigned in Will’s head because he wanted and he knew there was something wrong with the wanting but he was too addled to sort it out.

“I apologize,” he said.

“You needn’t,” Jem said. He pulled Will into a hug which was almost enough to fulfill the wanting so Will held on. Jem spoke into his ear, “You’re going to be fine.”

They were invisible in the poorly lit square. The witchstone at their feet gone dark and the lamps too far away. A headache poundedat Will’s temples but Jem didn’t let go and that kept him breathing.

“Can I kiss you again?” he whispered into Jem’s neck and surprisingly he laughed.

“Ask me again when you’re sober,” he said.


	9. AU - Jem Comes Home

### 1881 

“Who wouldn’t be angry! You faked your death for three years and ate all the cereal,” Will said slamming a hand down on the table top hard enough to make the dishes rattle. Jem didn’t look at him and he almost did it again just to demand a response.

Jem had been there when he had woken up, had been there sitting at the dining room table eating porridge and drinking tea. Will was still wearing his pajamas and dressing gown and he crossed his arms over his chest.

“I wasn’t dead,” Jem said.

“You were gone. You could have told me they had found something. You could have sent a message,” Will said.

“There weren’t any guarantees, you didn’t deserve to be crushed by a false hope. And what would I have sent?” he asked.

“Something,” Will said. “Instead of just showing up here at dawn. Or hell, just have told the maid your name. She woke me up to tell me there was a Shadowhunter here seeking asylum and she had made him breakfast.”

“I didn’t eat all the porridge, by the way, there’s more in the pot there,” Jem pointed his spoon at the serving dish in the middle of the table.

Will stared at him. He was still leaning over the table. Jem looked up at him with wide dark eyes. His hair fell across his forehead, a little too long and still streaked with silver in some places. Will took in a deep breath and pretended it didn’t sound like a sob. He took in another one and Jem pushed back the chair and came around the table toward him.

Will watched him. He moved slowly and awkwardly like he was still relearning how to use his limbs properly but his feet made sound on the floor.

Not a Silent Brother.

Just a person.

Just Jem.

Will reached out and grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. He was warm. Thin and narrow and there was a tremor running through him but warm and human. He didn’t smell like Will thought he would. He didn’t smell like parchment or burned sugar. He smelled like night air and tea and Jem. Will pulled in another one of those shaky near sobs and tried to memorize the smell in case this turned out to be some sort of dream.

“I’m sorry about the porridge, I forget that I need to eat sometimes. I didn’t realize how hungry I was,” Jem said into his neck. He was holding just as tight as Will was. One of his hands was twisted in Will’s dressing gown to hold him close.

“Bugger the bloody porridge,” Will said, “I’ll make you more if you want it.”

“I am not so desperately famished that I would eat anything you cooked,” Jem said.

Will started to laugh and Jem did as well. Three years since he had last heard Jem laugh aloud. They held together and laughed like children. Pressed together and holding on and giggling into each other’s ear.

“Tell me this is permanent, tell me that you’ve come home,” Will said.

“I’ve come home,” Jem said.


	10. Obtuse

Will kept talking. Jem leaned over and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. For a moment, Will just ignored him and kept rambling on and on about some nonsense about Demon Pox. He didn’t stop so Jem casually covered Will’s mouth with his hand and tightened his other arm. Will started to pull away and Jem didn’t let him go. 

“You’re being obtuse, Will,” Jem said. 

Will stopped struggling and shrugged. Rather than pulling away, he leaned back into Jem. Jem released his mouth and Will promptly sat up and picked up his train of thought where he had left it off. Jem leaned forward and grabbed him again. 

“You are not three years old. Just give it a rest,” Jem said. 

Jem lifted his hand again and Will started right back up, “As I was saying-” so Jem clapped the hand back in place and simply held on. Will didn’t struggle or argue. He just sat where he was held as Charlotte glared at them both before continuing on with what she had been telling them all. 

Jem attempted to release Will again. This time he sat there quite quietly, half in Jem’s lap with Jem’s arms wrapped around his head in a gentle headlock. Will held onto one of Jem’s hands and stayed leaned up against him. He was calmer for the contact, he often was. Jem set his head on Will’s shoulder and they stayed cuddled together until Charlotte had finished her briefing and sent everyone on their way.  


	11. If you loved me...

“I don’t love you anymore,” Will said.

“Good. Then maybe you’ll leave me alone for five minutes,” Jem said without looking up from his violin. He had been restringing it and the work was relaxing and precise. He wound the strings and tested the tension before tuning.

“Come with me.”

“I’m busy.”

“The violin will still be here when we get back.”

“I’m in the middle of it, now.”

“Jem.”

“Is busy. Please call again tomorrow.”

“Come.”

“You could always stay with me if you’re so set on company.”

“Listening to you tuning that thing is like getting stabbed in the ear.”

“If you really loved me–” Jem started in the same whining tone that Will had used. Will laughed but he let the conversation drop and left the room.

Jem kept his eyes on his violin. A few minutes later the door opened. He glanced up to see Will throw himself down in a nearby chair with a book and a dramatic flare.

He smiled but neither of them said anything. If you really loved me, you’d stay.


	12. Don't Fall Asleep Here

Will didn’t say a word. He didn’t move or blink or register that Jem was there at all. Whatever it was that was making him so surly, it wasn’t something that he wanted to talk about. He probably could have been distracted by Jem’s shoulders ached and he was putting off a dose until morning so he could get something done with the energy the yin fen gave him instead of just sleeping it off.

Jem lay down in the bed and put his head on Will’s shoulder.

“Give me your hand,” he said.

“Why? Are we going to skip through a field of daisies?”

“No, you bastard, because my joints hurt and the pressure helps.”

Will made an annoyed sound but held out his hand and let Jem lace their fingers together. He squeezed a little and let their hands settle on his chest. The pressure did help but the closeness was better.

“Your wrists are bad?” Will asked.

Jem shrugged.

“Stop putting off your medicine, you idiot.”

“Stop moping about for hours and I’ll consider it.”

Will huffed like he was offended and was going to start an argument. Instead of saying anything, he rolled over and into Jem’s personal space and started rubbing his palm and his wrist. It ached but it helped. Jem closed his eyes and smiled as Will switched to the other hand.

“Don’t fall asleep in my bed, you’ve got a whole room for yourself,” Will muttered.

“Too late,” Jem whispered.


	13. Yin Fen Shopping

The room was small and cramped and Jem could barely breathe. There were other ways to do this but this is what the Clave had recommended. To meet in a hotel room with a man euphemistically referred to as an importer.

He had run out of the drug they had sent him to London with. The silver powder that offered him a slow death instead of an immediate one.

Now he was here, alone, like a common drug addict. He could dress it up in his own mind as much as he wanted but that wasn’t so far from the truth.

A knock at the door and he almost gave up. They had to knock again before he got up his nerve and stood.

He opened the door.

And Will stood there.

Tall and scrawny for a twelve years old with curling hair that stuck out in all directions. He held out a tie. Jem recognized it. It was one of his. 

“I stole this from you,” he said simply then shouldered his way into the room, the tracking rune still stood out on his hand.

Jem was at a loss for words.

Will shrugged and tossed himself onto the rickety little bed, “If it were me, I wouldn’t want to be alone.”


	14. Fixing Your Tie

Will was in a foul mood. Jem didn’t know why. He never knew why but that didn’t really matter. He looked toward the hallway to the left and Will rolled his eyes but disappeared into it before Charlotte had even seen him.

“I’ll see if I can find him,” Jem said to Charlotte who was checking the time and scowling.

“You look like you just rolled out of bed,” he said to Will when he rounded the corner. Will leaned against the wall, hair rumpled and his collar unbuttoned with the cravat just hanging around his neck.

“I did,” Will said.

“Come here,” Jem said.

Will did as he was told and Jem fixed the collar first, straightening out the shirt and jacket and finishing the buttons at his neck. Will was watching him and when Will was this close and looking at him, his stomach fluttered and left him flustered. He didn’t look up as he tied and tucked the cravat into place as well.

He did look up then but didn’t make eye contact. He frowned at Will’s hair and tried to finger comb it at least halfway flat but it didn’t help. He did it another few time anyways because he liked the way the tangled curls dragged against his fingers.

“Am I acceptable? Am I to be allowed out into public?” Will asked but his tone wasn’t as sneering as Jem had been braced for. Jem looked at him to find that his eyes were a little softer.

“You’ll do, let’s go,” Jem said.


	15. Amnesia AU

The results were temporary but at least temporarily, Will had about as many cognitive capacities as a clever toddler. He’d lost his mind, all of it to a venom that was still running it’s course.

He was physically unharmed now that the bite was healed but on the past three days he had needed to relearn things everyone else took for granted like the principle of gravity and that objects continued to exist when he couldn’t see them.

He had attached himself to Jem not long after waking and every time something confused him, it was Jem he looked to for explanation and reassurance. It was like having a very large needy toddler following him around. A toddler who was strong enough to flip furniture because he wanted to know what was under it or climb up the shelves in the library. Jem still didn’t know why he’d done that one, only that it had obviously hurt when he landed.

Jem had been the one to be dragged around by Will, naming everything in the entire Institute as Will started to reassemble his vocabulary. Will had parroted his speech patterns to the point that Jem had switched to rapid Chinese just to give himself a break. It had worked for about an hour before Will started to figure out the patterns and basic words to that language too.

Jem also discovered that whatever reasons Will had for his rudeness and his standoffish behaviour, they were not innate. Will as a child had apparently been exceptionally affectionate.

He gave spontaneous hugs and leaned in so his head could rest on Jem’s shoulder and while he didn’t burst into tears like a frightened toddler did, he still sought physical reassurance.

By the end of the week, Will had mastered full sentences and was starting to show signs of remembering himself. Jem had also adjusted to the constant touching and presence and incessant questioning. He started to hold out his hand automatically so Will could lace their fingers together or pull Will in for a hug before he asked for it.

Will’s memories were coming back piecemeal. He sat down with a book and started reading without prompting. He argued with Charlotte over a particular spell because Magnus Bane had said something about it once and when Charlotte looked it up, it turned out he was right. Jem didn’t know any Welsh but Will seemed to wake up one morning with ability to speak the language in its entirety and set out teaching it to Jem in much the same rapid fire question and answer period he had used to relearn English.

And then one morning, Will woke up and said nothing. He ate breakfast without speaking and then disappeared out into the city until well after dark.

Suddenly, he was Will again.

Distant and serious and caustic if not quite as practiced or vicious in his cruelty. The affection and the warmth and the Welsh lessons all vanished.

It was like losing something Jem hadn’t realized he needed.


End file.
